Truck boss penalty 'pitiful', says union

Page Tools

A truck boss whose lax safety management contributed to a
driver's death has been fined $42,000.

Darri Haynes, 37, was killed when he crashed his semi-trailer
into another truck on the Pacific Highway at Tyndale, near Grafton,
on the NSW north coast, in 1999.

In a landmark ruling in October that confirmed a driver's truck
is his workplace, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission found Mr
Haynes' employer Jim Hitchcock guilty of failing to provide safe
working conditions.

"In determining penalty I have considered the objective
seriousness of the offences, including the compelling need for
general deterrents and the limited subjective factors ... including
Mr Hitchcock's high civic standing," Justice Walton said in his
judgment.

The Transport Workers Union labelled the sentence "pitiful" and
said in cases such as these a custodial sentence should be
considered.